Thank you for your kind remarks. Really appreciate that. Cheers. Louwrens

Many thanks.

I still use salt, but only have to fill the first 1 metre of the tube to coil the small inner coil and I now use a coarser grade of table salt (in other parts of the world I think it is called "Kosher Salt") that is much easier to get out. I can now get the salt out in under 3 minutes. It takes about 28 grams of table salt to fill the first 110cm of a 1/4" tube. I also tried paraffin wax and it works, but it is an absolute mess to work with. Cheers.

@@LouwrensvanderMerwe Thanks again for sharing your experience with everyone, Cheers.

Can you use the same method for bigger od pipes ? 13 mm and 18mm. I know the coils will have to be a lot bigger then say 250 od.

Thank you very much!

Hi Gordon. Watch this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/meCkgayIypbNoJs.html . It shows the coiler in more detail. Cheers

Guess I should of read more comments .

Very good questions. I connect the top of the copper tube to a water supply and hold it vertically or at a slight incline and while the water is running through it I crimp the bottom end and fold it over and turn off the tap and crimp the top end. At the ends where the tube is folded over there is no water in the tube (or a minute amount) and as plumbers solder is easy to melt there is not much steam. Any steam evaporates before the solder melts. Any steam forming inside the tube is absorbed by expansion of the tube. I guess there will always be a small bubble at the ends, but it is of no practical consequence. Cheers. Louwrens

The pipe is 16mm. Remember to fill the 1/4" copper tube with salt or something to prevent the walls from collapsing. Cheers.

Thank you for your comment. There might be better things to use than salt, but I just don't know of them. I have used water, sugar, paraffin wax, a resin called "Coppabend" and salt. Some people say that fine sand will work and freezing water inside the tube. I am sure freezing the water inside the tube will work, but I do not have the facilities to freeze a 3m length of tube and I am not going to try sand, because you will never get it out of a 1/4 inch tube once it is coiled. Paraffin wax and "Coppabend" works very well and are easy to remove, but paraffin wax is VERY messy to work with and it is a pain to clean the coil and "Coppabend" is expensive and hard to find. I totally agree that salt in a small diameter tube is nightmare, but that is what works best for me. On a 3 metre length of 1/4" tube I fill only half the tube (the half I am going to turn the small inner coil from) with coarse salt and it seldom takes me more than a few minutes to wash the salt out.. I wish I'd knew of a better way, but a the moment salt gives met the best results. Cheers. Louwrens

@@LouwrensvanderMerwe I am using spring bender. It's a great to make this coil easily .Fist time I used Solt, But it's a difficult to solt out of the coil. Some time the pipe pitch and crack where the solt loosely. I order 1/4 spring Bender from Amazon.in . Thanks a lot sir

I am sure it will work. Thanks.

I've put water through the open tube and while the water was running through the tube I crimped the one end close, folded it over and soldered it. After soldering the end close I tapped the tube with a piece of wood from the low end to the high end to get any bubbles out and then folded over the open end and soldered it. I am pretty sure not all the air was out of the tube and a small bubble might have remained in the tube, but that didn't have a big effect on the outcome. I was just curious to see if it will work. It is not a process that I would use every day as I do not like the look of the flattened tube. I still use salt for the tube I coil for my condensers. Cheers.

I have never tried freezing, but KZfaq user NOBOX7 has done it in this video - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/lbVdorqr2dy5lHU.html - maybe you can take a look at his method. I still use salt as I haven't found a suitable substitute yet (sugar doesn't work) and it is an absolute pain in the neck to get out, but up to now I have always managed to get the salt out - sometimes it takes up to an hour for the salt to dissolve and flush out. I also only fill half the 3 meters of copper tube with salt to wind the small inner coil as the outer coil doesn't need any support. Cheers.

@@LouwrensvanderMerwe supposedly musical instrument makers use ice to bend tubing, but they add alot of soap to the water before freezing. You might want to look into this.

No, hard copper tubing won't work, you will have to use soft copper tube. You can built the machine dirt cheap. All you need is an old boat winch, a wheel bearing and a 16mm stainless tube - see this video: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/qpuHmbOWsb6VhmQ.html

I just connect it to the tap and turn on the tap and let it sit. It sometimes take an hour or more for the water to get through but it always get through.

@@LouwrensvanderMerwe i used salt too, then was trying wash it out for 2 days and no luck , i boiled it for 6 hours in pot , no luck, then i just give up :(

That is a very good question. Maybe I should do an experiment. Cheers.

A huge vape

Excellent reply. I like it. I should consider it! :)

An oval or flatter tube will only have a better thermal efficiency than a round tube if the tube stretched during coiling giving it a larger surface area than a round tube (and doesn't impede the coolant flow), especially when you use it in a vapour path like in a still or submerge it in a fluid. Fine sand will definitely work, BUT how are you going to get it out? If you compress the sand in the tube and can not tap it out there is no way you can dissolve the sand (like you can do with salt) and your coil will be ruined. I like your user name, because many days I also feel like DILLIGAF (Kevin Bloody Wilson)! Cheers.

Great tip, thanks!!

I definitely think it can work. I think a kind of "salt slurry" will be the best to use. I would love to test this idea and I think as soon as I can find time I will. Thanks for your comment. Cheers

Louwrens van der Merwe I look forward to the results, my prediction is that it will be a success...

Agree. At the bottom of the KZfaq Player, next to the PLAY button, you will find a MUTE botton!

This guy did exactly that 5 years ago! kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Y9Jdn7B80byqoHU.html

Freezing the water definitely works. They say you should put a little dish washing liquid in the water to stop it from shattering in the tube.

After filling the tube with water I tapped the tube for a while to get rid of any air bubbles, so I don't think that was the problem. Repeated the experiment quite recently and the result was the same. Water do not support the walls sufficiently enough. I think freezing the water will work and I should make a video about that. Thanks for your comment. Cheers. Louwrens

I have tried every way there is with water in the tube. Apart from freezing, the water can not support the walls of the tube when coiling small coils. I still use salt as it is the only way I can get professional looking coils. Parrafin Wax also works, but it is a huge mess and you have to keep the tube warm. Cheers.

Thank you for your comment. I must be honest I have only made coils with 1/4 Inch tube, but I am sure you can make a coil with any tube. You must just make sure that the coil you want to make will fit inside whatever you want to fit it inside to. Cheers.

Try this method - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/l7pme9SK19G3dX0.html

You can use a water pipe

That is how I get the salt out of my coils. Cheers.

@@LouwrensvanderMerwe upside down coil and water from top?

@@frkifrk This video was just a video about an experiment. To see the real coils I make you have to watch this video - kzfaq.info/get/bejne/Z66Xnq5hrLLbio0.html

If you are going to make a coil for yourself just use water to fill the tube. I still use salt to fill the tube from which I turn the small inner coil (about 35g of salt). I coil these condensers to use in my still columns and I do not get the look I want from a water filled tube (too oval for my liking). I do not have problems getting the salt out as I use DRY salt (dry it in the oven before you use it), I turn the coil after filling it with salt and then immediately connect the water to it. Takes about 3-4 min for the salt to rinse out - water pressure ±100kPa=14.5psi. Cheers.

You obviously don't know how to use water.

@@robertkattner1997 Obviously not. From the videos on your channel I can see you are an expert on the subject. Cheers.